Garment hanger



Sept. 13, 1932. H, p BOE 1,877,550

GARMENT HANGER Filed Dec. 3l, 1951 HENRY L. 50E. 5) H15 Ha/f/VEXS.

Patented Sept. 13, 19.32

UNITE STATES AP.ii-fielen*r HENRY L. BOE, 40F MITlV'EAl01DI,S.,lMINNESOTA GARMENT HANGER Applicationld December 31, 1931. Serial No.584,051.

This invention relates to garment hangers.

At the present time, dresses and other garments are commonly stored Yanddisplayed in department stores Lby hanging the dresses @and othergarments on ordinary loow'ftype garment hangers. These ordi-nary bowtype garment Yhangers serve quite well for the purpose of hanging menssuits, overcoats and the like,but they are not found-satisfactory -formany types of womens dresses, such -as evening gowns, 4low neckedvdresses and the like. Evening gowns and low necked `dresses readilyslip olf such ordinary bow'type gar- Inent hangers, particularly duringthe constant handling of Vsuch articles of clothing -b'y clerksinstores. Such delicate dresses are often soiled and sometimes ruineddue to the fact that they slip from such hangers onto i the liioor.Although hvarious types of gar- "onient 'hangers Vhave been devised,including arms which clamp such dresses and -other garments against 'abow, most of these Varm Ytype hangers have been `provedto :be unsuc- Ncessful for use in department stores, .either @5 :becausethe clerks willnot-taketime-and pains enough to position the garmentcorrectly on thehangers, or because ofthe expense of such hangers. l

*It is theobject of this invention, there- 8 fore, to provide a novelland improved'garment lhanger particularly adapted for use in hangingwomens evening'gownsfand low necked dresses, which hanger is cheap andsimple in construction and can be operated with a'minimum amount ofeii'ort on the part of the user of the same to clamp the article ofclothing` in place and prevent the same from slipping o the hanger. Y l

vTo this end,vgenerally stated, the invention consists in the novelvparts and 4novel combinations of parts hereinafter defined in theclaims fanddescribed in the following speciication, made inconnectionwith the accom- 55 panying drawing, wherein like reference charactersrefer to the same orsimilar parts throughout the various views, and Ainwhich, Fig. l isia'view in side elevation illustrating "an vembodimentof the present invention, thelmovablepartsbeing shown yin one positionin full lines and ina second position in dotted lines F ig. 2 isasection taken on the lineQ-*Q of F ig. l as indicated by the arrows 'andFig. 3 is asectio-n taken on the lineS- of Fig. l as indicated 'by thearrows.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a bow 4, which isshown in vthe present embodiment illustrated, as Vbeingv formed fromwood, although if desired this bow may be formed from metal such aswire. Applied to the central Aportion of the bow 4 and-upstandingtherefronn'is a hookj b y means of which the bow may be suspended from ahorizontal rod or bar, or the like. Apair of spring arms -6 shown in thepresent embodiment Aas beingformed from wire,

are used in connection with the v bow 4. TheseA springs arms 6 :haveupturned ends 6a vsunk within boresin the lower side of the bow 4inoutwardly spaced relation-from the center of the bow and the spring armsare -furthersecured to the bow as by V-means of staples 7 which embraceoutwardly eX- tending portions Gb'of the arms -6 joining lthe -upturnedends 6a.. The staples 7 are driven "into the lower-surface of the bowf4.The .outwardly extending portions 6b of the 4arms join portions coiledYto form coiled Asprings "60, The coiled spring portions join lowerportions 6d which lproject normally in substantially horizontal relationbelow -the 'bow 4. 'The lower portions 6d extend toward theoppositeends'of the bow respectively from the ends adjacent which thecoiledspring'portions 6c of the `arms of which lower portions 56d form apart are disposed and, as-viewed in Fig., 1,the -two portions A'6d crosseach other belowthe central ,portion of the 'bow 4. Joining thelow erportions "6d are upwardly extending intermediate portions 6e whichproject upwardly to -po-ints'above-the upper surface of the bow 4.v Eachlintermediate portion 6e -is laterally 'offset in va direction towardthe Vcoiled spring portion 6c of lthe spring arm 6 of which it -fforms aA`part, Ato form a' jog forynose "The lupper part of Vthefintermediateportion -l6e of feach arm i-s Vinturned over the bow 4 andyjoins an upper spring tension, by reason of the coiledV spring portions60 and also by reason of the lower portions 6d which, in reality, formbar springs, to swing downwardly and retain the clamping portions 6g inclamping relation against the upper surface ofthe bow 4. Theintermediate portions 6e are at all times under spring tension, due tothe resiliency ot the material Yforming the arms, to press tightlyagainst the staples or keep ers 8 as the spring arms 6 are raisedupwardly from their lower position shown in full lines Fig. 1 to theirupper position shown in dotted lines Fig. l. As a result, when the arms6 are raised upwardly from their lower positions to such a point thatthe jogsor noses 67 are carried above the keepers 8, the intermediateportions 6e will swing toward the ends of the bow 4 to which the arms,of which the intermediate portions 66 form a part, are attached and thenoses 6]: will engage with the keepers 8 to prevent the return of thearms 6 to their lower position, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 1.

To place a dress or other article of clothing on the hanger, theoperator will grasp the bow 4 about the central portion thereot` withthe fingers of one hand and will place the thumb of the same hand belowthe lower portions 6d of the spring arms 6 at the point where theseportions cross each other. The thumb will then be raised toward the hook5 to swing the spring arms 6 upwardly from the full line position shownin Fig. l to the dotted line position there shown, or until the noses(if engage the keepers 8 to hold the clamping portions 6g in spacedrelation above the upper surface of the bow 4. It requires but one handof the operator to thus set the hanger, so that the dress or othergarment may be held in the other hand of the operator while the hangeris being set. When the hanger is thus positioned, the dress or othergarment may be inserted in place on the bow 4 with the shoulder strapsor shoulder portions of the dress or garment depending rom the bow. Theoperator may now press downwardly on the loop portions 6k of the springarms whereupon the intermediate portions 66 will be swung outwardlytoward the respective ends of the 'bow to 65 cause the release of the`noses 6f fromuthe keepers 8, whereupon the coiled springs 60 and thelower portions 6d, due to their spring tension, will cause the springarms to swing downwardly to the full line position shown in Fig. lthereby causing the clamping portions 6g to clamp against the portionsot the garment overlying the upper surface of the bow 4. The garmentwill then be held so that it will be impossible for the same to slip ottthe bow 4. When itis desired to remove the garment i'rom the hanger, thespring arms 6 will, of course, be swung upwardly as before described andthis movement will set the hanger inV position to receive the garmentwhen it is next hung on the hanger.

lt will be seen that an extremely simple @andVv efficient hanger isprovided. The same movement imparted `to the spring arms 6 to release agarment Jfrom' the hanger, sets the hanger for reception ot the garmentagain and there is thus small likelihood that the garment will be placedon the bow of the hanger without moving the clamping portions 6g totheir clamping position. Although it is desirable to form the coiled;spring portions 60 in the spring arms, it is not necessary that theseportions be provided inasmuch as the natural resiliency of the materialforming the spring arms can be relied upon to place the spring armsunder the proper tension for the successful operation of the hanger. Itis, of course, also possible to vary the configuration of the springarms considerablyto accomplish the desired results. Different types ofkeepers than the-3100 keepers 8 may be used if desired.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various partswithout departure from the scope of the 105 present invention.

What is claimed is 1. A garment hanger comprising a bow, a ,pair ofspring arms attached to said bow respectively in outwardly spacedrelation l1@ from the center of the bow, said spring arms having lowerinwardly extending portions below the bow, intermediate upwardlyextending portions and upper portions extending outwardly respectivelytoward the ends of said bow above the same, the intermediate portions oisaid spring arms forming odset noses, the upper portions of said armsnormally being urged by the spring tension of said armsY into clampingrelation with the i upper surface of said bow and means carried by saidbow with which said noses will engage under spring tension to ret-ainthe upper portions of said arms in upwardly spaced relation from saidVbow as the lower portions E of said arms areswung upwardly.

2. A garment hanger comprising a bow, a pair of spring arms applied tothe underside of said bow at opposite sides of the center thereofrespectively and extending first inwardly, then upwardly and thenoutwardly toward the respective ends of the bow, the outwardly extendingportions of said arms overlying the upper side of the said bow and beingurged by the spring tension of said arms into engagement with the uppersurface of said bow, said arms intermediate their lower and upperportions having noses and means carried by said bow with which saidnoses are adapted to engage by spring tension as the arms are swungupwardly, whereby the nose portions will be caught by said means toretain the upper portions of said arms in spaced relation above theupper surface of said bow.

3. A garment hanger comprising a bow, a pair of spring arms connected tosaid bow at opposite sides of the center thereof, said spring armscrossing each other below said bow and projecting upwardly to pointsabove said bow and then extending outwardly over said bow to pointsremote from the points where they are attached to said bow, each of saidspring arms intermediate their crossing portions and their outwardlyextending portions having offset noses and means with which said nosesare adapted to be engaged as said arms are swung upwardly to hold theupper portions of said arms spaced above said bow.

4. A garment hanger comprising a bow, a pair of spring arms applied tosaid bow in outwardly spaced relation respectively from the centerthereof, said spring arms having lower portions extending inwardly andcrossing each other, intermediate portions joining said lower portionsand extending upwardly above the upper side of said bow and upperportions extending outwardly from said intermediate portions andnormally held by the tension of said spring arms in Contact with theupper surface of said bow, said intermediate portions having offsetnoses therein and keeper means carried by said bow and with which thenoses of said spring arms are adapted to engage as said arms are swungupwardly to thereby retain said upper portions in spaced relation raisedabove the upper surface of said bow.

5. A garment hanger comprising a bow, a pair of spring arms applied tosaid bow outwardly from the central portion thereof at opposite sidesthereof respectively, said spring arms being turned on themselves toform coiled springs and projecting below said bow to form lower portionscrossing each other, said spring arms from said lower portions extendingupwardly to form intermediate portions which project above said jbow andsaid spring arms having upper portions extending respectively outwardlytoward the ends of said bow and over the upper surface of said bow fromsaid intermediate portions, said spring arms being under spring tensionto normally retain the upper portions of said arms against the uppersurface of said bow and the intermediate portions of said arms havingjogs therein forming noses, said noses normally ex'- tending below saidbow and members applied to said bow with which said noses are adapted toengage as said spring arms are swung upwardly to retain the arms inupwardly swung position with the upper portions of said arms spacedabove the upper surface o f said bow, said noses being detachable fromsaid means by swinging the intermediate portions of said arms outwardlytoward the ends of the bow.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

HENRY L. BOE.

